This is the companion blog site to Todd Gordon's popular radio show. Entitled Todd's Turntable, it's a weekly, one-hour show that airs on various FM and Internet radio stations worldwide.
To listen to a handful of examples from Series 2, click on Soundcloud in the links section. Or for a few from Series 3 & 4, click on Mixcloud.

Thursday, 26 June 2014

Back in the late 1970s, I took a punt on this album. I had never heard of Teresa Brewer but I was, of course, a major league Count Basie fan. Basie and his pared-down band are in cracking form and, with Thad Jones taking up the mantle of arranger and conductor, this is one of Brewer's best releases.

The Flying Dutchman label was founded by Brewer's husband, the acclaimed producer, Bob Thiele, after his eight-year stint as head of Impulse Records.

Monday, 16 June 2014

Sam and Delilah, one of this songs on this show's playlist, is the opening track of Ella Fitzgerald's impressive 5-LP boxed set, dating back to 1959. When I bought the recordings (in the mid-1970s) it was a re-issue with rather pedestrian artwork with the truncated title, Ella Sings Gershwin.

I therefore thought it would be interesting to feature the artwork from a variety of releases over the years, starting with the five original volumes with covers by French experimental artist, Bernard Buffet.

Less inspired are the HMV and MFP releases - one wonders how could such dull visuals be used to sell a quality product like this?

Saturday, 7 June 2014

One from the Heart is the Oscar-nominated soundtrack album of Tom Waits compositions for the big-budget, Francis Ford Coppola film of the same name. Recorded between 1980 and '81, it also featured several tracks with female singer Crystal Gayle.

Wednesday, 4 June 2014

Stereophonic records made their first appearance in 1958. Using two separate channels, the effect was designed to give dimensionality to recordings. Initially, it was exploited as a gimmick, and early stereo records contained recordings of moving objects such as trains and racing cars, the sounds of which travelled dramatically from one speaker to another.

The 'Achoic Box' (pronounced 'ak-oy-ik'), sometimes called the 'Achiphon', was a compact stereo record player made by the British electronics company, Pye Ltd. It had six speakers facing sideways to give what the company claimed to be 'six feet of stereo separation' with the power to 'exploit a room's acoustic potentialities as they have never been exploited before'. It was advertised in conjunction with Pye's own record label as a machine through which their stereo releases could be most readily appreciated. Notable for its elegant design, the Achoic Box is emblematic of the 1960s.

On a more personal note, it almost caused my parents to have a major fall-out. My mother was frustrated that my father was not enthusiastic about getting to grips with decorating or any other around-the-house jobs that needed attention. I vividly recall his coming home from the local "Craigleith Radio" store with this state-of-the-art machine. Cost in 1965: 69 guineas (£72.45 in today's currency and approx US$125) - a sum which could easily have paid a joiner, plumber and decorator to achieve quite a lot in those days!

I also remember the first single that graced our model: Herb Alpert's Spanish Flea (released on Pye Records and came free with the player).

Even 50 years later, the design remains iconic. And it turned out to be a great investment for me and my early collection of LP records by Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and other greats.

Monday, 2 June 2014

One of two Latin-themed albums Peggy Lee recorded for Capitol Records; the theme being Broadway hits styled with an Afro-Cuban beat. Latin Ala Lee was released in 1960 and won a Grammy for best artwork. The follow-up album, Ole Ala Lee, came a year later.

I've also added an example of one of the album's three EPs. Albums were expensive purchases in their early days and it was common practise the issue four of the (usually 12) LP tracks in this format.